I always pause and feel the fresh air on my face, look at the sky, notice the trees and the birds, and I am always, always buoyed with perspective, gratitude and love of the natural world.

Oh, it is so good to be alive.

Just a moment ago, walking across the deck, I was overcome with joy at the idea of hundreds of people preparing to retreat this weekend.

Maybe right at that very moment!

Jeweled souls in a connected heart web stretching around the globe – from Bainbridge Island to London to Little Rock to Israel curling around to New Zealand…

Oh, my heart beats faster just thinking about it!

(And if you are reading this and you are not partaking of the Virtual Retreat, I invite you to take a few minutes for a mini-retreat this weekend and tap into the love. You are part of the jeweled web, too. But of course!)

Some thoughts on what to do between Virtual Retreat Sessions:

I wrote about this a lot in the How to Retreat e-book that comes with the retreat (it’s in the members area – and your user name and password are in the confirmation email you received.)

And I wanted to add a few more things because I love to talk about this stuff (I wrote a book about it after all) and because I got this helpful email from Linda – whom I love (she’s attended several of my live retreats and gave me my favorite pair of earrings ever) and here it is:

I’m starting to get really excited about the virtual retreat! Mike’s being so supportive and encouraging: “Let’s get the house and your studio all organized and calmed so you can have a real retreat.” Gotta love that guy! So, I do have a few questions. (No surprise, I’m sure!)

For example, will you suggest ideas for possible activities that participants can to during the in-between-speakers time? Denise and I have talked about doing our vision (or dream) boards over some of the time.

And I have other thoughts such as working on writing projects–maybe even topic-related prompts–just to reinforce what we’re hearing. Another idea was to work on art projects just to stay in the zone rather than return to the mundane world during speaker-less times. Even a walk outside (for those of us without snow!) could serve to reinforce a thoughtful presence. You’ve probably already thought of all of this and covered it, but it’s been on my mind so I figured I’d share! Looking forward to spending time with you!

Thank you Linda for sharing a little bit about what you are up to and yes, I have some ideas in that e-book for what to do between sessions…

And the main thing I want to say about what to do between session is:

listen to and follow your healthy instincts, follow what you want

A retreat is about giving yourself the spaciousness to be, to check-in with you, to kindly find yourself where you are right now (my sessions throughout the retreat will help you do this) and that is true even if you simply listening into one session and taking an hour off for you afterward (and saving all the other sessions for some other retreat as you’ll have all those recordings and transcripts).

So yes, have lots of goodies and ideas on hand but know that you won’t get to many of them or you might dip into all of them, either way, it’s about listening. Being. Taking a finding yourself pause.

And here’s what I might to between session – just possibilities:

Ask myself often, “You are on retreat. What would you love to do now?”

Make notes after the sessions about my thoughts and insights

Move more slowly

Make a pot of soup slowly, smelling the aromas

A few restorative yoga poses – I like Yoga Nap as a guide

Art journaling – explore my intention question and holding the space for all of you in color and collage

Read Hafiz’s poetry slowly

Chant with iMantra my new I-phone App

Meditate for longer than usual

Listen to Amy Weintraub’s Yoga Nidra before bed

Put on wild music and dance, dance, dance

Do  Dance of Shiva

Sip tea and be

How are you going to weave and celebrate your retreat? Even if only a few moments here and there, a session or two?

We are all here to support each other on the blog all weekend!

Related posts:

1. Comfort During Fearful Times: Fear of Creating
2. Choose Your Life Mondays – the Wednesday Virtual Retreat Version
3. Retreat Week One